Zardari pushes for polio eradication

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari, while reiterating the government's commitment to undertake all efforts for complete eradication of polio virus from the country, Tuesday advised the authorities concerned to follow innovative strategies in reaching out to those populace and places that were still serving as reservoir of the virus and have so far remained under-served due to various reasons.

The president said this while addressing a specially convened meeting here at Bilawal House to review the current situation regarding Polio eradication efforts in Sindh.

He said there was no reason why polio virus transmission cannot be interrupted in the province if effective implementation of innovative approaches with optimum utilization of resources and proper vigilance is ensured.

Those who were present during the meeting included among others Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Secretary General to the President, M. Salman Faruqui, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Special Assistant to Prime Minister and PM's Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ms.
Shahnaz Wazir Ali, provincial ministers, concerned government officials and representatives of international partners against the polio disease.

The president advised the provincial governments and the authorities concerned to consider setting up permanent booths in collaboration with non-governmental organizations at all transit points of the provinces, when attention of the meeting was drawn towards the fact that a large number of migrant population was among the major reasons for many children being left unattended during polio vaccination campaigns that are launched from time to time.

The meeting was informed that Sindh province reported a total of 33 polio cases in 2011 compared to 27 polio cases in 2010. The province has reported 3 type-1 polio cases so far in 2012, from Hyderabad, Larkana and Mirpur Khas districts.

It was informed that overall provincial vaccination coverage by finger marking in Sindh province was 98 percent. All the
districts/towns had 95% vaccination coverage by finger marking with the exception of Orangi, Liaqatabad and Gulberg towns of Karachi.

The meeting was apprised that according to a market survey conducted in all the districts/towns of Sindh province, overall
finger marking coverage in Sindh was 95% except Shikarpur, Karachi and Tharparkar.

Karachi showed more than 90% vaccination coverage by finger marking except a few areas that included Orangi, Liaqatabad, North Nazimabad, Bin Qasim, Kemari and SITE.